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When I first saw this film I would soon be entering the last echelon of my marriage. I didn't know it at the time but soon he would cheat, and I would catch him. I would have what I later realized was a nervous breakdown, and I would quit my job, digging us even deeper into poverty. I would lose forty pounds because I couldn't afford drugs or alcohol and running made me feel better, and by a series of events that could be nothing short of a miracle, I ended up in wardrobe. A job - A Career - that helped me regain my identity, put me back…

Carmen Maura is one of the most mesmerizing actresses alive and just brims with natural charm and humor. I can't even describe how gorgeously stylish this film is, just absolutely exploding with color. I have 2 more films of Almodovar's to see and he really is one of a kind; even though I may honestly despise some of his films they never lack a strong vision and vivid beauty. I consider this one of his funniest, maybe the funniest, with a stellar ensemble and masterful directing and costume/production design. And yes I'm not rating movies anymore.

Didn't start really enjoying Almodóvar until he entered his "mature" phase ca. Flower of My Secret; the early films are too undisciplined for my taste, given what they're ambitiously trying to achieve. That's especially true of this one (the first I ever saw*), which feints at the structure and timing of a bedroom farce without ever quite committing to actually being funny. Some bits, like the spiked gazpacho, serve as plot devices but fail to become jokes; others, e.g. Pepa repeatedly hailing the same "mambo" cab, never build or expand, as if the repetition itself is meant to suffice. I can see why this became an arthouse sensation at the time—energetic cast (the women, at least; Banderas seems half-awake…

When I first viewed The Skin I Lived In, I was taken aback on how amazing it all was, and then I moved onto Bad Education, a film that had some working elements behind, only to be broken down by its final act. I have now moved further back into Pedro Almodovar's filmography to his 1988 comedy-drama, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown; boy that is a thick title. I was anxious coming into this, unsure of what is in store for me since this was at a point in his life where his films possessed a different quality to the ones he provides his audiences today. Seeing this film has put the director…

Whenever Challenge Film 32: Watch a movie that a critic who you respect gave his/her maximum rating

I chose this because it was one of Pauline Kael's faves. In her 1988 review, she wrote "Pedro Almodóvar may be the only first-rank director who sets out to tickle himself and the audience." I can't help but love this description. Almodovar is incredible, stylish, and fun while still providing substance and character! As my girl Kael says, "Almodóvar makes the artificial sexy," but I would argue that, especially now, his sexy, glossy artificiality can be read as much deeper and divinely human.

All in all, it took a minute for me to get into it. However, once Antonio Banderas was in Pepa's apartment, I was 100 percent in and loving it.